… There was another reason for Richt to be in a good mood: The Bulldogs are close to full strength, avoiding any academic casualties.

Last year, three Georgia players, including tailback Caleb King, were academically ineligible for the Liberty Bowl. This time around, Richt reported that everyone had made it academically.“Those guys have done well,” Richt said.

“It gets rid of a lot of distractions,” quarterback Aaron Murray said. “We had a couple last season, and we don’t have to worry about that now. We just have to worry about practicing, getting ready for the bowl game.”

I presume that includes a certain freshman running back about whom I was hearing a fair amount of academic crazy talk in the past couple of weeks.

And Richt had better be careful with that stuff about Mike Gilliard cavorting with barnyard animals. Next thing you know…